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Condurango – Benefits and Uses

Condurango

Scientific Name: Marsdenia cundurango, Rchb.

Other Names: Eagle Vine, Condurangu, Condor vine, Gonolobus Condurango, Kondurango, Mata peroo

Family: Asclepiadaceae

Not to be Confused With: Asclepias umbellata or Elcomarrhiza amylacea

Habitat: Native of the Andes Mountains in South America and especially in Ecuador and Peru.

Marsdenia cundurango
Marsdenia cundurango

Constituents

Pregnane- and pregn-5-ene glycosides – mixture known as condurangin (including condurango glycosides A, A0, Al, BO, C, CI, DO, E0, E2); Flavonoids (including trifoliin, hyperoside, quercitrin, rutin, and saponarin), Caffeic acid derivatives (including chlorogenic acid, neo-chlorogenic acid) and essential oils. (PDR, pg. 217)

Medicinal Parts

The medicinal part is the dried bark of the branches and trunks.

Action

Alterative, circulatory stimulant, stomach relaxant, bitter, adaptogenic, orexigenic, diuretic, tonic, antiseptic, heart stimulant, anti-syphilitic, anti-cancerous, and nervine. (Shook, pg. 349-350)

Uses

Condurango stimulates the secretion of saliva and gastric juices. It is used for nervous indigestion, anorexia nervosa, neoplasm of the stomach and intestines. It calms pain in stomach disorders following gastric ulcer and lessens vomiting (Le Monde Medical Journal). Traditionally condurango is used for loss of appetite, atonia of the stomach, painful nutritional disorders, for stomach cancer to alleviate nausea, as an appetite stimulant and to increase tolerance of food. (PDR, pg. 217)

Condurango has found its chief use as a cancer remedy, especially those originating in epithelial structures, epithelioma, etc. (John Clarke MD).

It is used by native Indians to cure many cases of syphilis and cancer. (Shook, pg. 349-350) Condurango is also used to allay the pain in gastralgia accompanying cancer of the stomach, stricture of the oesophagus with burning pains behind the sternum, vomiting of food, and indurations, chronic gastric catarrh, epithelioma of lips or anus, ulcerative stage of carcinoma cutis when fissures form, varicose ulcers, tumours, and lupus. (Boericke, 1993)

In Homeopathic medicine, condurango is used for cracked skin and constriction of the alimentary canal.

Condurango is also approved by Commission E for (1) Dyspeptic complaints and (2) Loss of appetite.

Dr. Sebi tells us that condurango is good for the blood and noted that he used it to cure a woman of leukemia. (theafricanbiomineralbalance.com, 2019)

‘Condurango contains an abundance of nascent oxygen, which we know is the greatest antiseptic in the world, and is, therefore, indicated in shortness of breath, dyspnoea, dyspepsia, dyscratic conditions, pus-forming diseases, and in failure of the heart, lungs and kidneys to perform their proper functions.’ (Shook, pg 350)

General Dosage

Preparations – Thrice daily.

Liquid Extract: Dose – 2-4ml (30-60 drops) in water. (Bartram, 1995)
Tea 1: 1-4g to cup boiling water. Half-1 cup. (Bartram, 1995)
Tea 2: Pour 1 cup of boiling water over 1-2 teaspoons of crushed or powdered bark and let it soak for 10-15 minutes. This can be drunk up to three times daily.
Tincture Dosage can be 1-2 ml, taken in a little water three times daily.

Storage

Condurango should be kept tightly sealed and protected from light.

Condurango Herbal Formulas

Anorexia Nervosa Formula

Decoction Formula – Combine Angelica root 1; Burdock root 1; Condurango bark half. 1 teaspoon to each cupful water simmered gently for 20 minutes.

Dose: Half-1 cup thrice daily before meals. (Bartram, 1995)

Decoction of Condurango

Ingredients:
1 oz. Condurango Bark (cut)
11⁄2 pints distilled water

Boil slowly for 20 minutes, while closely covered. Strain, bottle and keep in a cool place.

Dose: 1 to 4 tablespoonfuls 3 times a day Not suitable for children. Overdoses are poisonous, producing vertigo, convulsions, paralysis. (Shook, pg 350)

Research

– Its effective use as a digestive agent was proven in the 1980s, when researchers reported that the herb increased the amount of various digestive enzymes and digestive fluids in the stomach.

– Research published in J Pharmacopuncture. Sep 2013 indicated that it exhibited antitumoral effect in animals.

– Research published in Pharmacogn Mag. May 2015 noted findings indicating ‘its potential as a strong candidate for anti-cancer drug formulation’.

– Research published in J Pharmacopuncture. 2014 Jun;17(2):7-17 concluded that the ‘anticancer efficacy of an ethanolic extract of Condurango for treating BaP-induced lung cancer in rats lends support for its use in various traditional systems of medicine.’

Published Research on Condurango

Below is a partial list of the published research on condurango:

Anti-tumor Actions:
– Tatsuno, S., et al. “Pregnane glycosides from the bark of Marsdenia cundurango and their cytotoxic activity.” J Nat Med. 2018 Sep 24.

– Saha SK, et al. “Ultra-highly diluted plant extracts of Hydrastis canadensis and Marsdenia condurango induce epigenetic modifications and alter gene expression profiles in HeLa cells in vitro.” J Integr Med. 2015 Nov;13(6):400-11.

– Sourav S, et al. “Erratum: Ethanolic Extract of Marsdenia condurango Ameliorates Benzo[a]pyrene-induced Lung Cancer of Rats: Condurango Ameliorates BaP-induced Lung Cancer in Rats.” J Pharmacopuncture. 2015 Jun;18(2):86-7.

– Sikdar S, et al. “Anti-lung cancer potential of pure esteric-glycoside condurangogenin A against nonsmall-cell lung cancer cells in vitro via p21/p53 mediated cell cycle modulation and DNA damage-induced apoptosis.” Pharmacogn Mag. 2015 May;11(Suppl 1):S73-85.

– Khuda-Bukhsh et al. “Condurango 30C Induces Epigenetic Modification of Lung Cancer-specific Tumour Suppressor Genes via Demethylation.” Forsch Komplementmed. 2015;22(3):172-9.

Sikdar S, et al. “Ethanolic Extract of Marsdenia condurango Ameliorates Benzo[a]pyrene-induced Lung Cancer of Rats: Condurango Ameliorates BaP-induced Lung Cancer in Rats.” J Pharmacopuncture. 2014 Jun;17(2):7-17.

– Sikdar S, et al. “Condurango glycoside-rich components stimulate DNA damage-induced cell cycle arrest and ROS-mediated caspase-3 dependent apoptosis through inhibition of cell-proliferation in lung cancer, in vitro and in vivo.” Environ Toxicol Pharmacol. 2014 Jan;37(1):300-14.

– Hayashi, K., et al. “Antitumor active glycosides from condurango cortex.” Chem. Pharm. Bull. 1980: 1954-1958.

– Mitsuhashi, H., et al. “Condurango glycoside compounds, processes for their preparation, antitumor agents comprising them and compositions.” U.S. Patent no. 4,452,786 June 5, 1984.

– Takase, M., et al. “Studies on the constituents of Asclepiadaceae plants. 49. Confirmation of the structures of antitumor-active glycosides in condurango cortex. Chemical transformation of the aglycone moiety.” Chem. Pharm. Bull. 1982: 2429-2432.

– Hayashi, K., et al. “Further investigation of antitumor condurangoglycosides with C-18 oxygenated aglycone.” Chem. Pharm. Bull. 1981: 29(9): 2725-2730.

Anti-diabetic Actions:
– Simoes-Pires, C., et al. “A TLC bioautographic method for the detection of alpha- and beta-glucosidase inhibitors in plant extracts.” Phytochem. Anal. 2009 Nov; 20(6): 511-5.

– Wei, J., et al. “Experimental [corrected] study of hypoglycemic activity of conduritol A of stems of Gymnema sylvestre. Zhongguo. Zhong. Yao. Za. Zhi. 2008 Dec; 33(24): 2961-5.

Antimicrobial Actions (virus & bacteria):
– May, G., et al. “Antiviral activity of aqueous extracts from medicinal plants in tissue cultures.” Arzneim-Forsch. 1978: 28(1): 1-7.

Ethanolic Extract of Marsdenia condurango Ameliorates Benzo[a]pyrene-induced Lung Cancer of Rats

[embeddoc url=”https://italisvital.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/condurango.pdf” viewer=”google”]

Anti-lung cancer potential of pure esteric-glycoside condurangogenin A against nonsmall-cell lung cancer cells in vitro via p21/p53 mediated cell cycle modulation and DNA damage-induced apoptosis
Anti-lung cancer potential of pure esteric-glycoside condurangogenin A against nonsmall-cell lung cancer cells in vitro via p21_p53 mediated cell cycle modulation and DNA damage-induced apoptosis
Technical Data Report for Condurango (Marsdenia cundurango)
Condurango (Marsdenia cundurango)_

Interactions

None reported.

Contraindications

There was one reported case published that a patient with a known latex allergy had an allergic reaction to a condurango tea. Therefore, if you are allergic to latex, it is best to avoid using this plant.

Reference(s)

Advance Treatise on Herbs
Pocket Manual of Homeopathic Materia Medica by William Boericke
Bartram’s Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine by Thomas Bartram
PDR for Herbal Medicine 2000, published by Medical Economics Company, Inc.
http://www.rolv.no/urtemedisin/medisinplanter/mars_cun.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4331970/
http://www.raintreenutrition.com/condurango-powder.htm/

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